The Pontiac Lodge property was originally patented by Jasper N. Turnbo on April 9, 1892. Turnbo was also the original owner of the property that Home Comfort Resort, Frontier Baptist Church, and the Pontiac Cemetery now occupy. Howard Hagist bought the property from Claude Hogan, November 2, 1953. Howard built the Lodge. He was a bachelor. I don't remember much about Howard's days as the Lodge owner or if he cleaned the cabins himself or had a housekeeper, but I remember Mom telling that Howard was at the dock one day and she told him she had someone who wanted to rent a room. Howard said he had one available but hated to rent it as he had just got them all cleaned. Howard was a great asset to our community. He had a lot to do with the formation of the Pontiac-Price Place Volunteer Fire Department. He loaned them the money to build their first building. Howard also helped our Pontiac community from losing our post office. He jumped through all the federal government hoops and was able to build a new post office building as it stands today.
Howard sold the Lodge to Hugh Rukgarber on May 31, 1962. When my parents bought Pontiac Cove Marina in 1964, the Rukgarbers were kind enough to rent us two cabins for a year or so until we were able to make other arrangements. I don't remember a lot about them, but I do remember Hugh drove an old International Scout and that he would come in some evenings and we all wondered how he was able to keep from running off the steep road to the Lodge. I suspect that road must have hidden curbs to keep that from happening. One winter when I was driving an LP delivery truck for Johnna's dad, John, I delivered gas to the Lodge and was heading out. The roads were very slick and I got almost to the highway and ran out of power. I slid backwards down that hill to the bottom and the truck stopped just before running into the big ditch.
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| Ed and Thelma Kolaks |
The Rukgarbers sold the lodge to Ed and Thelma Kolaks on June 11, 1968. The Kolaks had been in the grocery business in the St. Louis area. They added 4 new cabins to the original 7. Ed was an avid fisherman. He knew how to get the fishermen to come to the lake. He kept records of what he caught every day he fished, what he caught them on and the lake and weather conditions. He could always give a fishing report. When the white bass would start biting in the spring he would make a few calls and fill the Lodge. Ed held the Misssouri Striped Bass record for a very short time in 1980. When he brought the fish in it was the biggest one I had ever seen so I told Ed it surely must be a record. By the time the official word got back to Ed the record was already broken again. The Kolaks' youngest son Terry went to high school here and he and I became good friends. He was a groomsman in Johnna's and my wedding. Terry had moved away by the time we returned to Pontiac. Ed and Thelma Kolaks were great assets to the resort business in Pontiac.
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| Ed with his record Striper |
The Kolak's sold the Lodge to Don and Dalene Arthaud in November, 1979. The Arthauds continued to do a great job at the Lodge. During their time at the resort they, along with a few other resort owners in the area and the marina, started going to boat shows to promote the area. At that time 3 Missouri state record fish had been caught within a mile of Pontiac. Those fish mounts were the focus of our display that we carried to places like Wichita, Kansas City, Tulsa, Memphis, St. Louis, Chicago and Springfield. The Arthauds being from Kansas usually worked the Wichita show and all of us worked the St. Louis show.
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| Don Arthaud left, Doc Klayman right. |
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| The Arthauds at a boat show. The Missouri State Record Largemouth, Smallmouth and Striper behind. |
The Arthauds sold the Lodge to Tony and Marilyn Allbright on March 1, 1994. Tony was a sales representative for several sporting goods and fishing tackle lines in the St. Louis and surrounding area. He also had a radio show on KMOX radio which he continued for many years after buying the resort. Tony was one of the most well known fishing experts in the St. Louis area. The Allbrights continued working the boat shows with the group. It was obvious that Tony was the one most people wanted to talk to when we were at the St. Louis show.
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| Left to right, Don Atchison, Steve Powell and Tony Allbright. |
The Pontiac Lodge has been the cornerstone of the resort business in Pontiac for many years. It continues to play a vital role in our community. And, when you stay at the Lodge you can still rub elbows with a true fishing legend.
Cap'n T Morgan
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